{"text":[[{"start":8.55,"text":"Warren Buffett excluded the Gates Foundation from his annual donation of shares on Tuesday, with the billionaire chair of Berkshire Hathaway directing nearly $6bn of stock to four family-linked charities."}],[{"start":21.950000000000003,"text":"Buffett, who will turn 96 this August, also confirmed that his remaining stake in the company would be directed to the four family-linked foundations within eight years."}],[{"start":31.550000000000004,"text":"The omission of the Gates Foundation on Tuesday follows revelations about Bill Gates’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which have emerged through disclosures of materials from the US Department of Justice’s investigation into the deceased sex offender."}],[{"start":46.25,"text":"Buffett in March said he had not spoken to Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, since “the whole thing was unveiled”, in reference to the Epstein scandal. He added he did not want to be in a position in which he would be called as a witness in the investigation of the late sex offender."}],[{"start":63.6,"text":"Mark Suzman, chief executive of the Gates Foundation, told staff in February that communications between employees of the charity and Epstein over an abortive fundraising plan were “deeply unsettling and depressing” and “shouldn’t have happened”."}],[{"start":78.3,"text":"Buffett has donated more than $47bn to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, including a sizeable gift last year. However, in 2024 he signalled that his remaining wealth when he died would go to a foundation tied to his family."}],[{"start":94.55,"text":"On Tuesday, he donated $4.5bn to an Omaha-based foundation named in honour of his late wife and a further $500mn each to three foundations set up by his three children."}],[{"start":107.6,"text":"“My goal is to dispose of all of my Berkshire shares within about eight years,” Buffett said. “My children are unfortunately growing older. I have every hope that the three of them are able to carry out the disposal of my shares by December 31 2034.”"}],[{"start":125.39999999999999,"text":"The foundation said it was grateful for Buffett’s “decades of support for our work”."}],[{"start":130.1,"text":"“The foundation continues from a position of financial strength to advance our work through 2045, supported by Bill’s $200bn commitment,” it added."}],[{"start":140.35,"text":"Buffett, who has spent six decades cultivating a reputation for probity atop Berkshire, has attempted to distance the company from the controversy. Gates stepped down from Berkshire’s board in 2020, shortly after his ties to Epstein were revealed."}],[{"start":155.6,"text":"Gates and Buffett have had a long friendship, which dates back to the early 1990s, and in 2006 the so-called Oracle of Omaha committed to donating annually to the foundation started by Bill and Melinda French Gates."}],[{"start":169.85,"text":"The three launched the Giving Pledge in 2010, in which they invited billionaires across the world to commit to donating part of their wealth to philanthropy."}],[{"start":178.25,"text":"Buffett’s donations to the Gates Foundation were dependent on several conditions being met, including that either Bill or French Gates were alive and active in the organisation. Buffett resigned as a trustee of the foundation in 2021. The couple divorced in 2021, and French Gates stepped down from the foundation board in 2024."}],[{"start":199.6,"text":"Gates told a US House of Representatives committee investigating Epstein in June that he had last spoken to Buffett in January, according to a transcript of his comments."}],[{"start":210.04999999999998,"text":"“I think it was prior to the release of the Epstein files,” he said. “We talked about my health challenges and some other things. I’m sure, you know, he’s looking at the press.”"}],[{"start":226.99999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1784084803_8809.mp3"}